Yulia Skripal speaks out for first since since nerve agent poison attack on her and dad Sergei in Salisbury

Both spent several weeks in hospital after falling seriously ill.

Downing Street has said it welcomes the new sanctions after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to Sergei's front door.

US state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it had been determined that Russia "has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals".

The news came as Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul said on Wednesday he had delivered a letter from President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing cooperation.

The sanctions would be structured in two tranches, with the biggest impact from the initial sanctions expected to come from a ban on granting licenses to export sensitive national security goods to Russia, NBC reported, quoting a senior State Department official.

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Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, were found unconscious and foaming at the mouth at a property in nearby Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Police said the couple were exposed to Novichok, the same deadly nerve agent which poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

On Sunday, 8 July, Scotland Yard confirmed they were launching an murder investigation after Dawn Sturgess was pronounced dead.

Police cordon off the street after a man fell ill near the Zizzi restaurant where ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia dined in Salisbury

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